JUST ENGAGE

2008 corresponds to 5768 in the Jewish calendar, a shmittah year (sabbatical year) and a leap year (Adar Bet, or Adar Sheni). The coincidence of these two special “re-setting” years with one of the biggest elections in recent history provides the Jewish community with a unique opportunity to recalibrate our thinking. The verb recalibrate is defined as:“To check, adjust, or determine by comparison with a standard.” In 2008, we have a chance to check and adjust the state of our country’s politics and policies against the standard of our Jewish values.

Jewish leap year: This year, the Jewish calendar includes not one, but two months of Adar, Adar Rishon (First Adar, last month) and Adar Sheni (Second Adar, the leap month, this month). The purpose of Adar Sheni is to ensure that the Jewish calendar (which has twelve lunar months and is approximately 354.3 days in length) and the festival calendar (which follows the solar calendar and is approximately 365.5 days in length) do not stray too far from one another. For example, Jews are mandated to celebrate the festival of Sukkot during the harvest season in the fall and the festival of Passover during the spring season. If we did not “re-set” the calendar seven times in the 19 year lunar cycle with Adar Sheni, events would not unfold in their mandated season and we could not fulfill our Jewish obligations.

Similarly, our democratic system allows us to “re-set” our thinking every election cycle, fulfilling our American obligations by truly reflecting on the status of our country and its most vulnerable members. Without Adar Sheni, the lunar and solar years would bypass each other until our lives were completely out of sync with our Jewish obligations. Without elections the will of the people and the will of the political leadership would bypass each other, taking us further and further off course. The upcoming 2008 elections will allow citizens to “recalibrate” holding our leaders accountable to the politics and policies that reflect the values of the American people. 

Shmittah year: In Leviticus (25:3-4), we are commanded, “Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; but in the seventh year (there) shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: Thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard" (Leviticus 25:3-4).

During this year farmland attained communal status, crops and food were available to all, and all debts were to be forgiven. Traditionally, it was also during this time that farmers were able to take a break from physical labor and focus mental energy on contemplation and reflection, a year-long Sabbath observance.

Although only a small percentage of Jews are farmers today, we can take the lessons of the shmittah year and apply them to our obligations during an election year. Every four years Americans are given the opportunity to re-focus our mental energy on our nation’s leadership and the status of our country. It was commanded during the shmittah year that debts be forgiven and that the fruits of the field be readily available to the poor. What does this commandment mean today when sub-prime mortgages have pushed families to foreclosure, predatory lending practices have pushed economically vulnerable families to the brink of poverty and 35 million Americans still go to bed hungry?  Just as farmers take a sabbatical during the shmittah year, all Jews can use this election cycle to contemplate our country’s priorities and leadership and engage in the process to elevate poverty and social justice in the national discourse. Just as the Shmitta year commands us to share our food with the hungry and forgive all debts, all Jews can use this election year to communicate with our leaders about the need to end predatory lending practices and make sure that every person has access to adequate nutrition.

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The confluence of the shmittah and leap years gives Jews a unique opportunity to pause, reflect and act. What are we doing to affirm our Jewish values of “leaving the corners of our fields for the poor” or to fulfill the mandate, “There Shall Be No Needy Among You”?

When you superimpose a seminal election year on this framework, as Jewish Americans we are obliged to ask the same questions of our leadership and of our country. As a community, what are we doing to help our most vulnerable populations? As more and more Americans face home foreclosures and lose their jobs, what can we do together as a country to “re-calibrate”, so as not to veer too far off course?

Neither political party holds the answers to these questions. This year, let us pledge to engage with all candidates of all parties, on the local, state and national level to pose these questions and elevate the national dialogue on questions of poverty and opportunity in America.

Primary Concerns

So the primary season is upon us and people around the country are preparing to participate in the Democratic process of choosing our next President. Millions of dollars have been spent trying to get voters to come out to the polls. Billionaire candidates still lurk in the shallows, testing the waters to see if the temperature feels warm enough for them to wade in. Massive voter outreach, 24-7 news coverage, and what does all of it come down to, three great-grandmothers trying to figure out how to work the computers that actually register the voters.

In 2006 my wife and I spent nearly three hours in line waiting to vote. When we finally got to the front, we discovered that only one of the four computers being used to check voters in was functioning properly. Now we live in a relatively affluent suburban district just outside of Washington DC. This was not an issue of lack of resources, it was a problem caused by the fact that the three lovely senior citizens who had volunteered as election judges had no idea how to work the computers.  On the spot my wife and I decided that, this year, instead of simply complaining about long lines to vote, we would volunteer as election judges instead. So when the Maryland primary rolls around, and again on November 2^nd, we will be spending the day checking in voters, and hopefully, helping the wheels of democracy turn slightly more smoothly.

As an agency JCPA has a long history of working to support voter registration and protection.  We've engaged on national legislation, encouraged local communities to hold registration drives, and educated people about their right to vote. We will of course continue that important work, but I would ask you to all join me in making a personal commitment and signing up to work as election judges. I probably spend 20 days a year sitting on the couch watching football. Our democracy is important enough to merit two days at the polling station.

January 19^th is one of the most important contests in the Democratic and Republican quests for their parties’ nomination for the presidency. It is also Shabbat.

This year, the Nevada Democratic and Republican parties have decided to hold their primary caucuses on a Saturday, with citizens required to report by 11:30 and 9:00 AM respectively, right during morning religious services. When I called the political parties in Nevada to inquire as to whether or not there were measures being taken to help accommodate those observant Jews who wished to participate in the caucuses, I received mixed results. A young Jewish woman at the Nevada Democratic Party told me that they had tried to put caucus-sites near religious neighborhoods and synagogues so that people could walk; precinct captains would be educated about the need to write down information on behalf of observant Jews instead of asking them to sign-in and write themselves. A gentleman at the Nevada Republican Party told me that the party was not even aware of the problem, but promised to make an effort to educate precinct captains on the issue. Neither had an adequate answer as to why the caucuses had to take place on a Shabbat morning.

Nevada has one of the fastest growing Jewish populations in the country, and its 65,000-80,000 Jewish community members are expected to have a disproportionate impact on the results. I do not know how many of these Jews are observant enough to be effectively barred from participating in the caucus. I do not know how many of these Jews will be pushed into the uncomfortable position of choosing between attending synagogue and participating in a cherished American civic tradition. I DO know that it is highly unlikely that the state's political parties would choose to hold these caucuses on a Sunday morning during church services.

Because of the need to caucus during a pre-designated and inflexible time, this form of primary contest inevitably will leave out large swaths of potential voters. Individuals who cannot flex their work schedules or find childcare are often disenfranchised. Because caucusing requires voters to present themselves in-person, members of the armed services or other Americans serving their country abroad are not able to participate in choosing the delegates from their states.

However, there are two elements of Nevada’s political parties’ decision to hold the caucus on Shabbat that make it especially disturbing: the fact that it is entirely avoidable (the caucuses could have easily been held on a weeknight or even after Shabbat ended), and the fact that it categorically excludes an entire group of people based on their religious identity.

This is especially ironic in a year where candidates in both parties have touted their religious credentials and spoken openly about the importance of their own faith as well as respecting people of faith.

Last night’s documentary, “The Jewish Americans” told the story of how American Jews struggled to assimilate while still maintaining a sense of identity. On January 19^th, Nevada's observant Jews will be asked to make a false choice between practicing their Judaism and participating in a defining American moment. To all Americans, not just American Jews, this should be seen as a disappointment.

I'm tired of the presidential race. I know, that's a cliché thing to say...everybody's tired of the presidential race already. The people in Iowa probably want to kill themselves right about now. It's not that I'm tired of hearing the candidates' opinions on the serious issues of the day. Problem is, what little I'm hearing about that is drowned out by so much other noise that I can't hear myself think, let alone what they think. This morning in the New York Times Maureen Dowd wrote a column about the fact that we judge candidates so much by their looks and how that could turn out to be such a disadvantage for Hillary because we're not used to watching women age on television.

There are a lot of things I don't care about in this election. I don't care whether the candidate is religious or not. If the candidate is religious, I don't care what the religion is, as long as he or she has no plan for imposing it on me. I think there are candidates who want to impose their religion on me, not necessarily by missionary tactics but by their policy priorities. So I won't be voting for them.

I also don't care a lot about what the candidates say about each other. It's not the way to learn about them. I know, negative campaigning works. That doesn't make it less irritating. And why do we believe what they say about each other? They'll all bash each other in the primary, and then whoever's elected will put some of his or her former opponents in the cabinet because their good qualities have suddenly been rediscovered and all the bad stuff was just good-natured campaigning.

Mostly what I don't care about is what they look like. If I did, I'd send all of my meager savings to Colin Farrell, harass him to join the race, and be arrested as a psycho stalker. Or I'd just vote for my two year old nephew, cuz although he doesn't talk much yet, he's awfully cute. No, I don't care that some people think that George Bush looks like Alfred E. Neumann (sorry, he does), or what Hillary's hair looks like from one day to the next.

Here are a few of the things I do care about:

Supreme Court Justices - I'm into judges who believe the Constitution exists to protect me.

Health Care - Everyone deserves it. And it costs taxpayers a lot more to support a system for people who don't have insurance than to provide the health care coverage in the first place. Yes, it's a complicated problem. Let's solve it.

Education - Where to begin. Here's the latest brilliant idea, let's close schools when kids don't do well on standardized tests. Then we'll have fewer bad schools. Until we have to put those kids in the schools that are performing well, making them overcrowded and underfunded, so then they can become bad schools too. Here's a thought, let's put some resources into making the bad schools good schools. Also, I'm starting a pool on whether my nephew, who lives in Kansas, will be learning evolution in school. Guess I better brush up on my biology knowledge.

Immigration - There are serious issues to be discussed about immigration. Let's quit equating poor Mexicans with ideologue terrorists.

Foreign Policy - I want the U.S. to be a factor in making the world a better, safer place. I want the mess in Iraq cleaned up. I want to know whether Iran is working on nuclear weapons, and if they are, I want them to stop. I want peace in the Middle East. I want an end to genocide and starvation in Africa.

Environment - Maybe we can avoid all the issues if we just let the planet burn up.

Mostly, I want people to care about these issues - whether they agree with me on them or not. I want people to be engaged. I want people to understand that what the president thinks matters. And that whether or not he has hair plugs doesn't.

I'll let you in on a secret.



It has been said that when American Jews enter the voting booth, their concern for the security of Israel is in the booth with them. Candidates who have not evidenced that they understand Israel's complex security situation tend not to do well with Jewish voters. However, once that concern is allayed, American Jews tend to look to a broad range of issues when determining which candidate they will support. To hear the Presidential candidates and their campaign staff speak, though, you'd think this was classified information.



History has shown that the American Jewish community is an important slice of the electoral pie. We live in key states. We vote in high numbers. There are many Jews who volunteer and support candidates. All of these things are important, and for all of these reasons, candidates reach out to the Jewish community. While the Jewish community may not be as powerful a block in Iowa and New Hampshire as say, homeschoolers, we are still getting plenty of attention.



In recent weeks, staff members from several Presidential campaigns have contacted our office to discuss their candidates. We routinely enter into such conversations because part of our mission as a community relations agency is to ensure that the consensus positions of the American Jewish community are well understood. We are non-partisan and offer the exact same advice to anyone who asks. And I'll share that advice with you. Israel matters. But there are other issues about which American Jews care.



In the past year the Jewish community worked tirelessly on the energy bill. We pulled out all the stops to try to get a federal hate crimes bill passed. We were on the hill on homeland security, education, global warming. We spoke out on health care, hunger, and homelessness. We are not a monolithic community, but neither are we a one issue community.



Don't get me wrong. I spent a decade living in Israel and 2 ½ years serving as a soldier in a special forces unit of the IDF. Israel is important to me. Very important. But it's not the only issue about which I care, nor do I think it is the only issue about which I think American Jews care.



Why then does is our diverse range of interests seem to be such a secret?